Wire fence.



No. 761,286. I PATENTED MAYBl, 1904.-

' v G. E. (JUNK-LIN.

- WIRE'FENGE.

APPLICATION rILnn SEPT. 25, 1903. no MODEL.

eys,

UNITED STATES latented May 31, 1904'.

GEORGE E. (JONKLIN, OF WAVERLY, KANSAS.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,286, dated May 31, 1904.

Application filed September 25,1903. Serial No. 174,640. (No model.)

T0 dZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. CoNKLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at .VVaverly, in the county of Coffey and State of Kansas, have invented a new anduseful Wire Fence, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to fences, and has for its object to provide a twistless wire fence wherein the connection between the stays and the runners is accomplished without twisting either of said parts or the stay by which the vention.

fence members are locked at their points of intersection. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction of mesh whereby the necessary flexibility is allowed to adapt the fence to an uneven or undulating surface,

vboth the runners and stays being adapted to yield sufficiently to suit the contour of the surface and also to compensate for-expansion and contraction due to changes of temperature.

Further objects and advantages, of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a fence constructed in accordance with my in- Fig. 2 is a detail face view of the lock. Fig. 3 is a side view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail face view of the intersecting portions of a runner and stay, the tie being omitted. Fig. 5 is a detail view in perspective of the tie, showing the contiguous portions of the runner and stay in dotted lines.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures ofthe drawings.

The wire fabric embodying my invention consists of intersecting longitudinal and transverse members or strands, respectively designated by the numerals 1 and 2, together with ties 3, consisting of short lengths of wire, whereby said longitudinal and transverse members are secured together at their points of intersection. The fabric is especially applicable to fence construction, in which case 1 preferably, employ marginal or selvage runners 1, provided with bars 4, said transverse bers in the desired relative positions.

members 2 being terminally attached to'said marginal or selvage runners and intersecting the intermediate or main runners 1 at -po1nts on a line connecting the terminal points of attachment. In order that the connection between the longitudinal and transverse members of the fabric at their points of intersection may be accomplished without twisting or coiling either of said members or the tie-wire 3, by which the lockis completed, I provide said longitudinal and transverse members, respectively, with perpendicularly-disposed offsets 4 and 5, the offsets of the longitudinal members being. transverse, while the offsets of the transverse members are longitudinal. This causes a triple intersection of the longitudinal member with the transverse member at each point of connection, an intermediate point of intersection being formed by the perpendicularly-disposed offset portions 4 and 5 of the runner and stay and spaced or terminal points of,intersection being formed at opposite sides of. said intermediate point of intersection, respectively, by the contact of the body portions of the runner and stay upon opposite sides of or beyond the offset portions thereof. Obviously this series of intersections, consisting of the intermediate intersection and the terminal or spaced intersections, is arranged upon adiagonal line disposed at an angle to both the runner and the stay. In addition, however, to the triple intersection of the fabric members, due to the intersecting offset portions thereof, the construction specified causes the opposite disp0-' sition of the angles between the offset portions transverse members to form tie-seats, through which the tie-wire 3 may be interwoven to maintain the offset portions of the fabric mem- Forinstance, the angles formed between the offset portions 4 and the contiguous body portions of a longitudinal member 1 are disposed opposite to the anglesformed between the offset portion 5 and the contiguous body portions of a transverse member 2, said opposite angles forming closed seats or eyes, through which the tie-wire 3 may be threaded to prevent the disarrangement of the parts. The tie-wire is and the body portions of the longitudinal and provided with a central bow 3, which spans the intermediate intersection formed at the centers of the offsets of the longitudinal and transverse members, while the sides or arms of the tie-wire extend through the spaced eyes formed by the registering angles at the ends of said offset portions. The extremities of the tie-wire are then folded or doubled upon themselves to form-terminal eyes 3, which respectively encircle the outside or spaced intersections of the body portions of the longitudinal and transverse members. Thus it will be seen that the only manipulation or working of the longitudinal and transverse members of the fabric to adapt them for the application of the tie-wire is the bending or offsetting thereof in the plane of the fabric and respectively in 0pposite directions, after Which the tiewire may be threaded through the registering angles and terminally folded to constitute the eyes 3 whereby each of the three intersections of a longitudinal member and a transverse member at the lock is engaged by the tie, the outside points of intersection being entirely encircled, While the intermediate point of intersection is spanned at only one side. Neither of the parts of the structure is twisted or coiled. As a result of this construction the fabric consists of meshes, of which each is hexagonal in form, the opposite sides of each mesh being of equal lengths, but adjoining sides being of different lengths. The interlocked portions of the longitudinal and transverse members form short sides, while the body portions of the longitudinal and transverse members form long sides, the sides formed by the runners being preferably longer than those formed by the stays, but the proportion being variable according to the relative disposition or spacing of the runners, which, obviously, are located at shorter intervals near the bottom of the fence when the fabric is designed for use as fences.

A further advantage of the construction described resides in the fact that the diagonally-elongated locks, together with the offset portions of the intersecting members, provide for flexing the fence in its plane to adapt it to extend over uneven surfaces, and, furthermore, either the longitudinal or transverse members are adapted to yield in the direction of their lengths to compensate for contraction and expansion due to changes of temperature without straining the connections.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A wire fabric having longitudinal and transverse members, provided respectively with transverse and longitudinal olfsets arranged in parallel planes to form oppositelydisposed angles, and a tie wire threaded through the opposite angles, substantially as specified.

2. A Wire fabric having longitudinal and transverse members, provided respectively with transverse and longitudinal offsets intersecting at intermediate points, and a tie-\vire spanning the intersection of said offsets, and having terminal eyes engaging the body portions of the longitudinal and transverse members at opposite sides of the offsets, substantially as specified.

3. A wire fabric having longitudinal and transverse members provided respectively with transverse and longitudinal olfsets, intersecting at intermediate and terminal points and contacting at said points of intersection, and a tie-wire interwoven with the longitudinal and transverse members at their points of contact, substantially as specified.

A. A wire fabric having longitudinal and transverse members provided with offsets between which and the body portions of the members are formed angles, the angles of each longitudinal member being disposed opposite the angles of the intersecting transverse member to form closed eyes or seats, and a tie-wire threaded through said eyes or seats, substantially as specified.

5. A wire fabric having longitudinal and transverse members provided with ii'itersecting respectively transverse and longitudinal offsets, and a tie-wire spanning the intersection of the offsets of said members, and having terminal eyes embracing the points of intersection of the body portions of said members at opposite sides of said intersection of the offsets, substantially as specified.

6. A wire fabric having intersecting longitudinal and transverse members, provided at their points of intersection with diagonallydisposed connections to form hexagonal meshes, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own 1 have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. CONKLlN.

\Vitnesses:

J. M. STUCKER, C. I. BUSH. 

